


Tampa: A Visitor's Guide

by DJClawson



Series: Theodore Nelson's Adventures in Sharing a Workspace [20]
Category: Daredevil (TV)
Genre: Catholic Matt Murdock, Catholicism, Easter, F/M, Father Lantom (mentioned) - Freeform, Grief/Mourning, M/M, Pesach | Passover, Recreational Drug Use, obnoxious cats
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-29
Updated: 2019-04-29
Packaged: 2020-02-10 00:45:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18649480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DJClawson/pseuds/DJClawson
Summary: Theo takes Madame Gao's advice, and Matt learns to deal with feelings.





	Tampa: A Visitor's Guide

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Nell](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nell/gifts).



> Thank you to LachesisMeg for her beta work!
> 
> Filling prompts:  
> \- Matt's grief over Lantom  
> \- Matt giving Theo food
> 
> Other notes:  
> I still have at least one prompt to fill, but I'm also thinking of doing a longer piece that would have a lot of Nelson family drama involving the family history with the shop and some of the OCs in the family I've introduced or grabbed from their one line of dialogue in the show. It would probably run several chapters, maybe more than that, and wouldn't just focus on Matt and Theo, even though Theo would be central to the piece. So let me know if you're interested in that.

“Is it okay if I go away for Easter?”

Matt paused in unwrapping his hands. For once, they weren’t bloody, despite the fact that he’d been hitting the bag for what seemed like an hour. “Why wouldn’t it be okay?”

“I don’t know. I know you care a lot about Easter,” Theo said. “More than any of us do. And I wouldn’t be hosting the family meal in the shop - which I would really prefer - so you would either have to go out to Long Island or find somewhere else to go.”

“Easter isn’t about the meal,” Matt said, even though that was certainly true for the Nelson family, as it was always true for the Nelson family. “Don’t feel compelled to host a meal just because of me.”

“I was thinking of going to visit my parents,” Theo said, squirming on the hard bench next to the boxing ring. He didn’t understand how people could sit on it for any amount of time. Maybe it was why this gym was abandoned. “I haven’t done it yet, and I’m sure Pop needs help moving furniture around. We close early on Saturday before Easter, and I can fly to Tampa, and then keep the shop closed on Easter Monday and come back that night.”

Matt shrugged. “You should definitely go then. You work too hard.”

“Ha! Coming from you. You only stop to sleep, and I’m not sure you always do that.” 

“Caffeine is life,” Matt admitted. “Do you want to join me in the shower?”

“Fuck, I’m not showering here. I have limits.” Though after watching Matt work out, those limits were really being tested. “How does this place still have running water?”

“I pay the bill. The city doesn’t care who owns it or what’s going on here as long as ConEd gets its money,” Matt said. “But I don’t  _ have _ to use their showers.” 

Theo grinned.

  
  


Theo’s parents were thrilled. Not that it came as any huge surprise - this was the longest they’d gone without seeing him, and they had been stressing over not coming home for Easter, but needed to save their airline miles for emergencies, and they would be back in June anyway to flee the Florida heat and “maybe help out in the shop a little, we’ll see, we don’t want you working too hard.” That was how they put it. They wanted to see Foggy, too - and Marci, especially, but neither could get the time off work, and they respected that. Foggy was even going to Marci’s family in Bayonne for one of the Passover seders, which he had never done before, and was looking forward to it with a zest that Marci roll her eyes.

“Why do non-Jews like matzah? You know they’re just bad crackers, right? We only eat them because we have to.”

Theo shrugged. “It’s vegan bread.” He usually bought a box for the back room after the holiday, when they were on deep discount. “They’re okay with jelly.”

Marci shook her head. “I usually need a juice cleanse after the holiday to get all of the brisket and horseradish out of my system.”

“It’s nice to have traditions.”

A week before the holiday he had lunch with Avi at the kosher vegan place in Chinatown that was  _ amazing _ . Avi needed to unload about the stress of the holiday, with all of the associated costs, especially to feed eight children. Theo was happy to oblige him - the food was greasy but it was the best Chinese food he’d ever eaten, so he never turned it down.

“Are you doing anything?” Avi said. “You have a holiday. I think it’s the same weekend this year.”

“I’m going to Florida to see my parents.”

“My cousin has a pizza place in Boca Raton,” Avi said. “Not that you need to find kosher pizza. And you don’t eat pizza.”

“There’s a kosher place on the Upper West Side that has vegan pizza.” He knew of it because there weren’t that many places that had vegan pizza, period, that was any good.

“They don’t have a strong  _ heksher _ ,” Avi said. “That means the guy who checks that it’s kosher, he isn’t trustworthy. Enough for me, anyway. And pizza’s pizza, if you eat real food. Which you don’t.”

Theo pointed to his plate of sesame chicken made of tofu with his chopsticks. “This is real food.”

“Because it’s fried. And it has the sauce,” Avi insisted. “Nu, what else is going on?”

“My brother’s going to his first seder. But I don’t think his fiance’s family is super religious.”

“If they were, she wouldn’t be marrying him. No offense to your brother - Frank?”

“Franklin. He goes by Foggy.”

“I’m sure he’s a wonderful man. They should be happy and healthy. Wish them a Zizzen Pesach,” he said. “But don’t say it’s from me or how you know me and all that.”

“I know a lot of people through the food service industry. Or that’s what they think.”

“And your friend? The crazy one?”

“He’s still crazy. But a pretty great boyfriend.”

“Hold on to him.” Despite being surrounded by family, Avi was very lonely. Like Theo had been before Matt. “Hold onto that.”

Theo had every intention of doing so.

  
  


“Easter is coming up,” Maggie said as she folded laundry. There was always laundry to fold at the orphanage.

“I know,” he said. He had literally just helped her carry the Easter decorations up from the basement. “I’ll be here.” He had the Nelson lunch, but he was undecided about trekking out to Long Island with Foggy, who said he might be hungover on fortified kosher wine. 

“There’s also Communion.”

“I could take it.” But he couldn’t, because he hadn’t confessed, and she knew that.

“While I may have more years of experience listening to the trials and tribulations of conflicted young men who like to bait me and challenge G-d than Father Killiam, I am not a confessional booth.”

“He’s young.” 

“Yes, they all start out that way.”

“You know the only reason you can’t be my confessor is institutional sexism.”

“You’re not the first person to notice the Church’s shortcomings,” she said. “And who says I have the patience for the job?”

But they both knew she had plenty of patience for complaining, especially from him. “Give him a chance,” she insisted. “He’s not Paul, but no one ever will be.”

“I never apologized,” Matt admitted. “For what I said to him. I never had the chance.”

“Did you want to?”

“I was still angry. He asked me to forgive him right before he died. They were his last words. And I didn’t. I didn’t know what to say. There wasn’t enough time.” 

Maggie put down the last sweater. “We all have things we wish we could have said. We all imagine there was a ‘right time’ and we missed it, and now it’s gone forever.” She took a deep breath. “I didn’t want to leave you. I couldn’t feel it at the time because I couldn’t feel anything. I thought the part of my brain that processed things like love and hate and concern and worry was dead. But it wasn’t. And later, when I did understand it, it was too late to say it and not have you be mad at me.” She turned away quickly. “And now I’ve said it and that’s that.”

“Mom - ” Matt said as he reached out for her, and then stopped as they both realized what he’d just said.

It was quiet in the crypt.

Matt finally managed to pull himself together. “Thank you.” He couldn’t say he forgave her because he didn’t. He wasn’t there yet. But he would get there.

“Talk to Father Killiam,” she said, and fled. This time, Matt let her.

  
  


Before Theo left for the airport Matt surprised him at his place. “For the plane,” Matt said, handing him a packet of dried apple chips - the good kind, the one that was hard to find - and a chocolate rabbit.

“Where did you find a dark chocolate Easter bunny?” Most of them had some kind of milk in them. And it wasn’t a crummy brand you got at CVS either. 

“The internet,” Matt said. “Happy Easter.”

Theo kissed him. “Don’t let Sadie go hungry. If she’s starving when I come home, she’ll eat my face.”

“I can’t see your face, so ...” Matt shrugged.

“Asshole,” Theo said as they hugged. “Happy Easter.”

Theo hadn’t been to an airport (except to pick someone up) in over a decade, which showed just how much of a homebody he was, and he spent the flight wondering how much Matt would hate air travel (presumably, a lot) while gnawing on the ears of his bunny. His parents were not the only senior citizens waiting at baggage claim to see their children or grandchildren. 

“You’re so tan,” he said to his mother.

“And you’re so pale! You have to come more often.” 

“Good to see you, son,” his father said, equally tan. As they shook, Theo noticed his father’s hands were steadier than they had been in a long time. “How’s the shop?” As if he had never asked that question before.

“Still standing.”

“Your brother’s firm hasn’t eaten you out of house and home?”

“They’ve tried.”

Pop slapped him on the back. “Let’s get you some sun!”

Their condo was not much larger than their apartment in Manhattan, but it seemed bigger, maybe because it wasn’t so ancient and filled with clutter. It only had two bedrooms - the master bedroom and a second room that doubled as a computer room - but Mom made a huge show of how many people they could accommodate, with a pull-out couch in the living room and a self-inflating mattress on the floor of the enclosed porch. Everything was great in their apartment - except the water from the tap, which they said was undrinkable because the taste in the whole state was awful, and the humidity, which was why they had to keep their bread in the fridge. And their condo association wasn’t too bad, and the people in the condominium weren’t too old (“We don’t want to deal with bad drivers”), and there were even some young people, and they weren’t supposed to have pets but everyone nowadays claimed their animal was a service animal so they got away with it.

His parents had DVRed news segments about space shuttle takeoffs and landings - a local news item of note in Florida despite its frequency - and he fell asleep on the couch watching them. When he woke up, his parents were watching a taped Jeopardy because they were old now. They sent him to bed, and he listened to crickets and unfamiliar evening silence. 

In the morning, Mom made him pancakes, and made Pop “regular pancakes” with eggs and butter. She insisted he go to the beach with his father while she went to Mass, and drove them, because they could only afford one car, and because she said she had better, based on what Pop usually did at the beach.

It turned out, it was get stoned. Get really, really stoned. 

“They make it so strong these days,” Pop said. “Do you want to try some?”

“Pop, I’ve been smoking weed since I was fifteen.”

“I thought that was just high school.”

“And college. And my old job. And basically every day after I came home from work for a while.” He took the offered vape pen. “I cut back a lot because there was more to do at the shop and I wanted to be alert.”

His father didn’t look overly surprised. “Does your brother smoke?”

“No. He hates it.” He look an experimental puff. It was strong, but not the strongest he’d ever had. But he’d had a lot of weed in his time. 

“I know you said things are going okay, but are things going okay, having your brother around? With Matt and Karen and all their stuff?”

“Yes. Things are fine.” He didn’t want to add what it had done to his love life. “They’re negotiating a contract for a place. I think they want to be out before you and Mom come back for the summer.”

“Foggy ever do any work in the shop?”

“He can barely handle an order sheet,” Theo said. “He’s just awful at it.”

“With all those brains, you would think otherwise.” His father nudged him. “You know how proud of you we both are, right? For the job you’ve done with the shop. For everything.”

“I don’t think we’re high enough for this conversation yet.”

“I don’t have to be high to talk to my son,” Pop said. “Your Uncle Timmy and I tried sharing a joint in the alley next to the shop once. Looking back, it was so weak I don’t think we even got high. We decided it was much easier to steal your granddad’s booze. We used to pour glasses and then put water in it to make him think it hadn’t gone down. Once he came into our room in the middle of the night to yell at us because at that point it was just tinted water, and he could tell. Whooped our asses good. So don’t think you invented sneaking around.”

“I was pretty good at it, though,” Theo said with a giggle. “I kept you going a long time about a lot of things.”

“We had suspicions!” Pop insisted. “We talked about how you never brought girlfriends around. But we just thought you wanted that part of your life to be private.”

“I did want that part of my life to be private,” he said, taking another puff before handing the pen back. “Very private.”

“Are you seeing someone? Foggy won’t say.”

“ _ Very private _ , Pop!” he said, just a little too loudly. Fortunately, the beach wasn’t very crowded. 

“We just want you to be happy. Are you happy?”

“Yes,” he said. On this, he could be honest. “I’m happier than I’ve been in a long time.”

“That’s great. That’s all we want for you.” He slapped him on the shoulder. “Our little Teddy-bear.”

“ _ Pop! _ ”

His father burst into giggles. He knew how much Theo hated that nickname. They were both feeling the weed now, which made it go down easier, and damn, getting high in front of the ocean, with his feet in the sand, was just incredible. 

“Someday, all of this will be yours,” Pop said.

“What? The ocean? You own the ocean?”

“ ... I guess I meant the beach chairs,” he replied. “And the shop. That.”

Theo laughed into his hand. 

“If anyone asks,” Pop said, “I have arthritis and you have glaucoma.”

“I had  _ so _ much glaucoma when I worked in an office,” Theo said. “Really struggled with it. It seemed like I couldn’t even get to work in the morning without having a little glaucoma.”

“No wonder they never let you design spaceships. They would have fallen apart ten feet off the ground.”

Theo laughed so hard he almost woke the sunbathers sleeping on towels nearby. 

  
  


Matt got to church early, even for Easter, to beat the confession line. He didn’t like the idea of people waiting outside, listening to his conversation. He knew that they couldn’t, that that was how the booth was designed, but it was something he did to other people, so it was uncomfortable to think about. “Forgive me Father, for I have sinned.” He put his cane against the door and crossed himself. “It’s been 10 months since my last confession. I was injured, I was in recovery, and I was mad at G-d. I wanted nothing to do with Him. And then Father Lantom died, and he’s known me since I was a child, so ...”

“New relationships can be difficult,” Father Killiam said. He was Matt’s age - not fresh out of seminary, but still young. “Why were you mad at G-d?”

“I felt like my whole life, He’d done nothing to help me. Even when I needed it most. My mother abandoned me as a baby and became a nun, I was blinded in an accident, my father was murdered, the only teacher told me I wasn’t good enough and left, and then - recently - the only woman I’ve ever truly loved died in my arms.”

“That is more than many people can handle.”

“And Maggie - sorry, Sister Maggie - my biological mother - who lied to me about it, I had to overhear who she was - told me not to feel sorry for myself. And Father Lantom kept her secret. And I yelled at him for it, and he didn’t fight back. He just asked me to forgive him, and he died before I could.” He let out a breath. “There’s actually much more, but it’s Easter. I know you’re busy.”

“The doors of mercy are always open,” the priest said. “Why do you think Father Lantom did what he did?”

“To protect my mother? And then to protect me, when all it did was make me feel more alone? I can only guess.” But he was good guesser. “My mom was out of my life because she was a danger to me for mental health reasons. I guess he didn’t see a point where he could reintroduce her. Maybe she didn’t want to be reintroduced. Maybe it wasn’t all on him.” He wiped his face. “I just don’t know how I feel about it.”

“If he was here now, would you forgive him? And mean it?”

“I think I would - try harder to get there. Because he would still be in my life. But now he’s not. He’s gone.”

“Taking time to work through your grief and conflicting emotions is not a sin,” the priest pointed out. “It’s a process. Everyone has their own timeframe, and G-d has enough patience and mercy to last for eternity.”

“Okay,” was his weak response. It was all he could manage because he was getting choked up. With Father Lantom in the next booth, this wouldn’t have happened. Matt Murdock did not cry in a confessional box. 

“Father Lantom is with G-d now,” Killiam continued. “If he watches over you, it is with a compassion beyond our ability to comprehend. So take your time. Meditate on your feelings. Accept them as they come and go. Say five Hail Marys for being cruel to yourself, and pray to the Virgin Mary for comfort. She had her own experience with loss. She will understand.” He continued, “G-d the Father of mercies, through the death and resurrection of His Son, has reconciled the world to Himself and sent the Holy Spirit among us for the forgiveness of sins. Through the ministry of the Church, may G-d give you pardon and peace. I absolve you from your sins, in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

“Amen.”

“Go in peace.”

“Thank you, Father.” Matt couldn’t wait to get out of there, and was glad for his glasses covering his eyes until he could find a private place to wipe them. He cleaned his face, and then it was time for Mass.

  
  


Theo’s mother had been right. He and his father barely made it to the car when she showed up still dressed from church, though it appeared that church was far more casual in Florida. Theo was carrying the folding chairs and Pop was eating from an economy-sized bag of Doritos and said, “Happy Easter, dear.”

“Happy Easter,” she said as she hugged her husband, then Theo, giving him a kiss on the cheek. “And it’s so nice to have you. Even if you couldn’t bring us a nice roast.”

“They wouldn’t let me keep it in my lap on the plane,” he said. “Unless I dressed it up as an infant under two, I guess.”

“Next year I’ll buy you a bassinet,” she said. “I didn’t want to cook, either. Let’s get some of what they call food down here.”

“Senior citizens aren’t supposed to still have taste buds,” Theo offered. “Maybe you’re just too young.”

They ended up at a Chinese restaurant, because they all drew the line at a lunch buffet, and Theo could always get a good vegetable dish at an Asian restaurant while Pop could have his pork. 

“So,” his mother said, “who’s this guy you’re seeing?”

“Mom! Pop’s already done this.”

“Franklin isn’t as good a liar as he thinks he is,” she explained. “I don’t know how he’s a lawyer.”

“He would say he’s a good lawyer,” Theo said. “On the side of justice or whatever.”

“No, Matt would say that,” she replied. “And don’t think we don’t have our suspicions.”

“Then you can keep up your detective work, because I’m not telling.  It’s important to keep your mind occupied in retirement and I know you hate mahjong.”

“Oh, I just don’t like the crowd of women at the church who play it,” she said. “A bunch of gossips.”

“We need a third for Rummikub,” Pop said. “You’re not getting out of here without playing it. Don’t worry - even I could figure out the rules, you definitely can.”

“I don’t have a lot on my schedule.”

When they got back to the apartment, Foggy called to wish them a Happy Easter from the family gathering in Long Island, and they put him on speakerphone and just about everyone seemed to want to say hello first before Foggy could take his phone upstairs and deliver a play-by-play of the Passover seder with Marci’s family.

“Apparently four cups of wine is a  _ minimum _ ,” he said. “I was forced to eat a lot of brisket and turkey to offset all of the alcohol. It was tough, but I managed. And I read a few Wikipedia entries on the seder book so I didn’t make a complete fool of myself in front of my future in-laws. I hope. Oh, and her parents want us all to get together for dinner when you’re back in the city. Which I’m not nervous about at all. Not you, Theo. You have too many incriminating stories.”

Later in the afternoon, Matt - who hated texting - texted Theo to wish him a Happy Easter in private, in addition to what he said from Foggy’s phone. He also added that Sadie was alive, and not thrilled at being fed dinner by someone else, even though Theo left some particularly nice cuts of steak in the fridge for her. It made Theo proud of the work he’d put into making Sadie happy as a housecat. It also made him miss Matt. He waited until his parents were both asleep - and snoring - before stepping outside and sitting down on the front steps to call.

_ I am not a needy boyfriend _ , he thought to himself as it rang.  _ I am not falling for this guy _ .

Matt picked up. “Hi.” He didn’t sound winded, or like he was on a rooftop, and he said he tried to take Sundays off, but you could never be sure with him. “I tried to figure out how to take a video of Sadie growling at me but I’m not sure what I caught or how to send it.”

“How was your day?”

“Fine. Went to Mass. Karen was doing her own thing so I took the train out to Uncle Timmy’s place. They all say hi, obviously. Even the ones who didn’t make it to the phone. And I think they were a little annoyed that you didn’t cook for them.”

“I only cater very high-class events,” Theo said. “And my rates are insane. No one in their right mind would hire me.”

“I’m going to tell Danny you said that.”

“He’ll find it amusing.” And he suspected Danny liked him more, even though Danny liked everybody. “I got high with my dad at the beach. I think you would like it. The texture of the sand, not hanging out with my dad.”

“I like your dad.”

“I think Mom is on to us.”

“She’s your mom. She knows you. And she’s practically my mom.” Matt added, “I called my mom ‘Mom’ yesterday. It was weird.”

“Intentionally?”

“Unintentionally.”

“So you really meant it. Good for you. How did she react?”

“She couldn’t get out of there fast enough. But not because she was angry or upset. It’s just sort of what she does when things get awkward.”

“Now I know what side that’s from.”

“As if there was ever any doubt,” Matt said, probably with a smile on his face. “I’ll see you tomorrow night.”

“Yeah. Cool.”  _ Fuck, I think I’m falling for this guy _ .

 

 

The next day, Theo did go furniture shopping with his parents, mostly to make sure that heavier pieces got safely in and out of the car. Florida was not-so-mysteriously filled with used furniture and thrift stores with quality items and helpful staff that were used to making sure customers had things properly tied to the roofs of their car. Theo positively freaked out when the checkout guy at Publix smiled, looked him in the eye, and asked him how his day was going as if he actually wanted to know the answer. 

He needed to get out of New York more often.

His father did laps in the condo pool - not difficult considering it was only about twenty-feet across. Their neighbors were day drinking cheap beer in the hot sun, which his mom said was a pretty regular occurrence. Theo learned that having his feet in the water felt awesome while high. And he managed to not spill anything about his now-established-to-exist boyfriend the whole day, for which he felt he deserved some kind of medal.

“We just want you to be happy,” his mother insisted. “Are you happy?”

“Well, he’s not Thor,” Theo said, because his father opened a bottle of whiskey. “But yes, I’m happy.”

“Good.” She kissed him on the cheek. “And don’t get a boyfriend who’s always going off to space. I don’t know how good for you that would be. We could barely handle it when half the family moved to Long Island.”

She made him snacks for the plane, and told him to call (as if he didn’t) and that he could tell her anything (he definitely wouldn’t, but nice to know), and they would see him in the summer, and they wouldn’t step all over his toes at the shop, they promised (they probably would). 

Foggy picked him up at the airport, because it was JFK and public transportation back from it was impossible. He was proud to be driving Karen’s car. “She trusts me with it!”

“It would be more impressive if she trusted Matt with it.”

“He says he could probably drive a golf cart, but I don’t want to find out,” he said. “So did you see any alligators?”

“Foggy, I was in a condo in Tampa.”

“I thought they could come up the toilets.” 

Sadie hissed at  _ both _ of them when Theo came in the door; it was good to be home. It also meant Foggy didn’t hover, which he otherwise seemed to want to do. Sadie’s anger only lasted through dinner. She was sleeping on his chest - whether he wanted it or not - when Matt climbed in through the window like the dramatic dork that he was. 

“She missed you,” Matt said, as Sadie woke up long enough to side-eye Matt and dig her claws into Theo’s shirt. “So did I.”

“My mom doesn’t know who you are, but she says you can’t go to space. You would be a bad boyfriend if you went to space. Presumably because you would take me.”

Matt raised his eyebrows. “But you were the best spaceman of 1989.”

“You’re lucky I don’t know Thor. Or, like, any of the other Avengers who have been to space. Or could go to space. Or are from space. I’m not sure where that Vision guy is from. Or if he’s even really a guy.”

“I don’t think they’re going to let you take your vaporizer up there.”

“You will not be surprised by the amount of articles I have read about it,” Theo said as Matt climbed in beside him - very much like a cat in the way he contorted himself so as not to upset the other cat. “I know it’s stupid, but I missed you.”

“It’s not stupid.” Matt pointed his adorable, unfocused puppy-dog gaze in Theo’s direction. “I missed you, too.”

Theo decided he could figure out what that meant for both of them later. For now, he could just be.

Finis


End file.
